Scotsman Alastair Forsyth took a firm grip on the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur today.

Scotsman Alastair Forsyth took a firm grip on the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur today.

Forsyth began the day just one shot ahead of the chasing pack, headed by the forgotten man of Europe's victorious 1997 Ryder Cup team, Spain's Miguel Angel Martin.

But he had stretched his lead to five shots just after the halfway point in today's third round after a flawless front nine.

Forsyth has dropped just one shot so far this week - despite being on the point of collapse in Thursday's first round as he battled temperatures that reached 100 degrees fahrenheit and high humidity.

Birdies at the third and sixth were only good enough to extend his lead to two shots over Martin, who also birdied the sixth.

But when the Spaniard bogeyed the seventh and Forsyth holed from seven feet for birdie on the ninth, the Scot had a four-shot cushion.

That soon became five shots as Martin, a member of Spain's Dunhill Cup-winning team at St Andrews in 2000, also dropped a shot at the 10th, with Australian Stephen Leaney and Korea's Anthony Kang moving alongside Martin in joint second.

Forsyth, 26, is aiming to regain the card he lost in controversial circumstances last year, and is playing the one million US dollars event on a sponsors' invite.